Mohawk Mountaineers climb over Hawks in straight sets

Humber men’s volleyball team lost to the Mohawks Mountaineers in straight sets 3-0, in a game that saw the Hawks come close, but ultimately be unable to take and hold the lead.

“Our team is composed of a number of first year guys, the reality is, we’re not ready yet,” said head coach Wayne Wilkins. “We’re still immature, we make too many mistakes, and unfortunately I felt as though tonight the other team came in and intimidated us, which in our house shouldn’t happen.”

The Hawks came close to taking the lead in all three sets, but the Mountaineers’ offense was just too much to overcome for the Hawks.

“The Mohawk volleyball team is a very solid team,” said player Adam Kinoshita. “In practices with Wayne we built a system to try and counter a lot of their offense. Unfortunately it just wasn’t in the cards for us tonight.”

The Hawks lost each set by a wider margin each time, losing 25-21, 25-20, and 25-18.

Clayton Blanchette Slams the ball into an open section of the opposing Mohawk court.(Elliott Williams)

“I think we had small mistakes, a few small little hiccups, that didn’t go our way,” said middle blocker Collin Skanes.

In a game that had few positives for the Hawks, Wilkins was impressed with one player on the court Thursday.

“It’s a tough call, to be honest, I don’t think anyone played overly well,” Wilkins said. “Maybe one of our new guys, Andrew Blakey. I thought he played up to his potential plus some, I thought he did okay for his first match.”

Blakey had five points on the night, his first points of the season.

The Hawks next game is against St. Clair on Sunday, but the team will have an intense practice beforehand.

“We gotta get back to the gym, gotta work hard,” said Wilkins. “I wasn’t happy with the effort level, I wasn’t happy with our motivation, and we gotta get back to the gym, get ready for Sunday.”

Kinoshita expects to have a tough practice, but is still optimistic for the Hawks season.

“Wayne Wilkins really believes in a high intensity practice, a lot of effort, and that’s definitely something that we really have to take to heart, push towards,” said Kinoshita. “It doesn’t mean we’re out at all, we’ve got a great squad, a lot of first year players but they’re definitely stepping up. We’re gonna be right back at it tomorrow in the evening at practice to get ready for our game on Sunday against St. Clair.”